As Cold As The Void
by moon dogie
Summary: what is a human life worth when god's go to war? when the cornerstones of our everyday life shift and a vacuum is left in their place, the result will either catastrophe or grim Continuance. the sea will run to black and the sky will become red hot with death when a grudge eons old returns for mankind's overdue extinction. (Crona X Maka)
1. Chapter 1

Hay there readers its Daniel Mathis and this story is the sequel to "When Her Heart Settled" (so read that first, its twenty five chapters long!) iv been working on it for a couple of months and planned to put it out in July but I decided t go for it ahead of schedule. This is by no means finished and im still working on the end game. If you like this story or hat it, feel free to leave a comment, fallow and subscribe if you so wish.

This is Daniel, and thanks a lot.

(the titan)

She wasn't sure when exactly it was that her mind came into focus but the scene all began to meld into a serial ambiance of sounds and shapes and colors and smells until she was certain that the world she was seeing, hearing, smelling was real and she wished that she were wrong.

Brittle stones crunched under the heel of Crona's left boot the other was in a puddle of snow, it was not fluffy snow like that of a light fun filled snow day from a childhood she never had, it was hard and frozen to a somber crisp sheet of grayish white. Above was a gray sky with slightly less gray clouds and white wisps of high atmosphere haze like shredded fabric, as for the moon, well there were five of them, each of assorted colors ranging from drab tan to matte gray, all full or nearly full and casting a light bright enough for her to see for miles from the black stone cliff that she stood upon.

No she did not know where she was, but she had seen it before, even if she had not seen this particular spot she knew that she had seen this particular planet in her visions, late at night when she was all alone or when she was with a group of Friends, no one ever saw it but her.

It was an invisible titan, with tall jagged mountains, deep turbulent oceans and thick black forests. She let out a breath, she could see it in the cold air like a ghost until it was carried away by the wind which was quite stiff, it was snowing and the mountain range seemed frigid and inhospitable, but she was not cold.

Behind her She heard a noise, she wanted to look but she could not move her body, her legs felt like they were locked into place. There was another noise, she had to look but even her neck would not turn, she was a statue of flesh and blood, as the noises came closer she realized they were foot prints, large foot falls only a beast could make. She tried to yell but all that came was a dry hiss, her eyes strained to glimpse from the edges of her sight what was coming for her. She heard a guttural growl, there was a hot breath on her neck, she could feel her hair blown forward by it. she gasped feeling a claw gently lay atop her head.

All was silence save her own beating heart and the breathing of an unseen terror just over her shoulder, her face was wide and full of panic. Crona was hit with a force so painful it ripped a scream from her petrified lips, a clawed hand protruding from her chest cavity covered in her black blood and her still beating heat clinched between its jagged talons. Blood pored from her gaping maw as her screams died away to rasping and cries of her dyeing body. This was it, the world where she was distend to die. She felt her feet lift from the ground, the hand digging its claws deep into her head, squeezing so tightly that her head was ever near to bursting. The speed at which she was thrown from the mountain was neck breaking, and while falling through the air her vision became fuzzy, it was all over now, everything was, she didn't even feel it when she hit the ground, everything faded to black, as it had always been destine.

(awake)

She sat up in bed swinging her fists and kicking her legs her sheets falling onto the floor. she stopped opining her eyes, her chest heaving. She was in her apartment, it was dark but as far as she knew there was only one moon outside, as far as she knew nothing was there to kill her, she groped for the machete at her bed side just to be sure. She fell over in the fetal position, her eyes wide, expression flat and distant ,it wasn't the first time she had a night mare, she had always had them, but that planet from her vision, that awful place, it was the first time it had come to her in her sleep. Crona did not worship any god, even if she was one herself, but she prayed to the indifferent universe that this would not happen again.

(carrier opportunities)

Lord death was pretty firm on his decision, after Crona returned to death city he would not allow her to work at the academy, Crona paid him no mind, she for some reason felt disregard for the reaper but couldn't really explain the feeling, maybe it was the fact that he unwittingly let her be taken by an evil biological weapons corporation in exchange for cash. But she didn't dwell on that bygone. It was simply that she did not care. She didn't fear or love him like other meisters, she nothinged him, he was another being on this wide planet, everyone thought it was ludicrous but she saw him as an equal and thought that others should as well. Maybe that was why he didn't want her in his academy, maybe he not only felt disdain for her but also concern.

Her job situation was okay, not great, just okay, second class citizenship in Death City meant that no business could legally hire her full time, mostly she worked part time as a Courier for the Death City Parcel Service. She did odd jobs for Stien, who was, get this, both a doctor and a professor of over ten different masteries, but generally acted like a mad scientist. She was his lab assistant/ guinea pig.

Some times she did some work for Kid. Lord deaths Son, the young socialist askew business minded philanthropist and confirmed bachelor, with a case of OCD that was so extreme that he had to be home schooled after an incident at the academy that traumatized all students and faculty that witnessed the event.

Kid had a strange hobby, rather he had several strange hobby's, he had taken a fascination with ghosts and the paranormal ever scene his experience with the Black Dragon, the ghost ship where he met Crona over a decade ago. It grew from watching television programs and reading books to actually going out to grave yards at night trying to contact them. He was a God child of Death, not spirits, he was a shepherd of souls not the keeper, so it wasn't like he had a natural understanding for ghouls and ghosts.

He often shanghaied her for nights out in some ruins or rumored haunted houses, hoping Crona's spooky nature would draw out the spirits of the dead. He paid her a little for her time, she appreciated the financial help and gladly stayed out all night if kid felt like it, he didn't require sleep, a quality that Crona, now knowing that she was a god herself, wished that she had as well, her eyes would always beguine to become heavy toward the later half of the night, sometimes she would fall asleep, but kid didn't complain about it much, unless something scary happened in which case he would be shaking her awake screaming things like. "good lord man did you just see that?!" and "i cant believe you were asleep, that was the most significant occurrence in months!" but his frustration was always trumped by his excitement.

(father dearest)

After one such night Kid came into work after changing out of his cobweb plastered shirt into a clean pressed suit. He started his morning off like he always dose, by making himself a cup of coffee. Kid liked his coffee like his nights, dark, endless and impossible to sleep through. After that he went in for a round of adoring his perfectly arranged desk, and then watched the morning news. After some paper work he visited his father.

That morning Lord death seemed distant, distracted. That behavior was becoming more and more frequent in recent days, the way he would pause between sentences growing ever longer to the point where he would often forget what he was saying all together. He gestured him to sit at his low table and he pored him a cup of tea, he still hadn't said anything so kid started them off.

"id like to run some future purchases for the academy by you, I hope we can fit them into the budget this year. i was thinking that the cafeteria needs to be repainted as the current coat is starting to peel." Kid said. "uh..." lord death stammered.. "and perhaps we should consider repaving the roof later this summer." "son" lord death said lowly. "of course is well overdue for new blackboards." "son..please." lord death held up his large hand to stop kid. Kid closed his mouth. "whats wrong?" "Kid, I'm..dying." kid's shoulders went slack. "what? How? How could you be dying?" "it's complicated, but ill tell you." kid let out a breath "father...how long?" "do I have left? A week, at best" lord death shifted. "iv warned you sense you were a tyke to be prepared for your turn to become the grim reaper, and that time is emanate. Are you ready?" kid blinked, he considers what his father was asking. "to be the grim reaper? Yes...but I'm not ready to loos my father.." "i wouldn't expect you to be okay with that." "tell me. what's happening?" lord death folded his hand's. He prepared himself for the story he would tell his son.

"back before the war in heaven and the Birth of the Meisters, when the first God's of this planet were born, we were like you in many ways, like Crona. We were young and lived in a very hostile world. Humans had only just been around for a hundred years or so and had barely mastered fire at that point, the old gods, beings from other worlds came to rule over them and pushed us from the planet, we lived among the stars and it was there that we learned to absorb the cosmic radiation of the void and the solar energy of the sun to grow our strength. We spent decades in hibernation orbiting around the sun taking in massive amounts of that energy, we finally had the power to form resistance against the old gods and bring them down." he shuffled, presuming he had proper anatomy to make facial expressions behind his mask perhaps his would have been one of pride but personally I don't think he has a face.

"I am the last of earths first born god's, if I'm honest I'm very lucky that iv made it this long, that I was able to have a son and raise you. That energy is still inside of me to this day but my body has become too...weak to contain it all. My body is going to give out soon, I will evaporate, leaving nothing but a small portion of that energy and my essences.." he looked at Kid. "as the next grim reaper I need you to absorb them, and that will make you the true death god. And I will live on ever so slightly as a part of you." kid stared dumb founded at the reaper. "right, so no pressure." lord death leaned away from the table. "I'm going to have to address the academy and Death City, and tell them whats happening. And..introduce them all to their new leader." kid fell forward on the table "I think I'm going to be sick.."


	2. Chapter 2

(the stranger in the diner)

It had been a month already, the rocky events of the past settled in to the gentle present. After all that unpleasant business, with the blood cult, with Justin and Heinrich, Crona knew that things were not okay exactly, she was still trying to grasp at the concept of being a young god, and that she was at the moment a second class citizen. But she was with Maka now and that was a sort of perfection in her life. Even if at the moment they weren't living together. She lived down town in a studio apartment, alone. She often stayed at Maka's but for now she slept on the couch.

Tonight the two enjoyed dinner together at a cheep Mediterranean joint down the street from Maka's apartment. Blair was often seen working her figure for free food from the owner, but she was nowhere to be seen that evening, it was just them and a few other people in the restaurant. Maka talked about some things going on at the DWMA. Even if Crona wasn't welcome there, she still liked hearing about her friends and the day to day goings on.

Maka was just as gorgeous as ever with a bright mind and a solid fist. The stress of work was killing her and she knew it but she would never quit doing it because she truly loved being a librarian. She still wasn't on great terms with soul but they had spoken recently, she made it quite clear however that they weren't getting back together but Soul doesn't always understand the word 'no'.

The fact that the girl across from her was a god didn't mean a whole lot to her, Crona wast the person she was in love with, she knew that she was powerful sure, but the whole god thing was just one of the many interesting things about her. Crona always thought of the blond haired meister as someone out of her league, the fact that she would even want to be around her was a miracle to her in itself.

In the back corner of the restaurant about ten feet away from their table sat a blond haired figure, waring a battered fedora pulled down over their face, and a brown trench coat buttoned all the way up so the large collar obscured their face. Crona noticed without much thought that the person sat still the entire time and ignored the man at the counter when he asked if they needed help. The stranger did not move, did not look up at them, just sat, face shadowed and pointed at the menu on the table and presumably that's where it's eye's settled as well.

They had finished their meal, they gave the cook their compliments and continued to talk for about five more minutes until Crona received a phone call. It was a simple phone she had only had for two weeks, it was a flip phone and didn't even have a full keyboard. She stared at it for a moment after taking it out of her pocket. There were only three people who ever called her and one of them was sitting right there. She opened it. It was Kid. She pressed the talk button. "Hi kid.." she answered softly, in attempt to not disturb the others who sat dining.

"what's wrong?" she asked lifting her expression with curiosity. "okay, okay ill be right there..." she closed her phone. "is everything okay?" Maka leaned forward with concern, the look on Crona's face unsettled her. "he's very upset about something." Crona said looking at the table. "i should go." Maka reached across the table and gave Crona's hand a soft squeeze, she smiled. Crona's face turned red, She knew what Maka' was trying to tell her but without words. Crona squeezed her hand in turn. She stood. "sorry..ill talk to you later...bye" Crona turned, her heart beating. "later Crona, Be safe." Maka casually waved while red faced Crona had already clumsily stormed out.

In the back of the room the stranger still sat, but really this was no stranger at all. Patty had been watching the two, mostly she was watching Crona but acknowledged that the two had been having a conversation, until she left. Patty had some interesting ideas lately, she was smart in her own little way but these were not her usual thoughts. She had been thinking about none other than the pink haired god child, she always thought that Crona would be an excellent boyfriend, and she would have thought that after making as many advances as she had that her feelings would be reciprocated, but Crona seemed entirely oblivious to her attempts to gain affection beyond standard friendship, And she knew why. She glared at Maka as the librarian stood and placed a three dollar tip under the salt shaker on the table and walked out, still unaware that patty was even there. "Maka, you are going to be a problem for me..." she said lowly. "hay order something or get out, your giving me the creeps." the cashier said in a heavy Greek accent. Patty stuck her tongue out at him and rolled out of the booth that she was sitting at and quickly dashed out of the building, hissing fiendishly as she went.

It wasn't helping that lately patty had begun to feel strange. she had found it hard to sleep, she had migraines at least twice a week now and sometimes more. It was making her irritable and unpleasant to be around, even though she tried to hide it everyone began to notice that she wasn't herself lately. She was certain that she was just getting herself worked up, once she got Crona all to her self she was sure that it would set her right as rain again and everyone would be happy, accept Maka, she didn't give a shit about Maka. She was hoping that she would cry when Crona dumped her, the thought pleased her...

(dealing with Death)

that whole day Kid didn't cry, he didn't weep or morn. Instead he had removed himself from his normal place at the DWMA and spent the remainder on the roof. Pacing and looking out over the city. Kid never had problems like this, the only person in his life that he ever lost was his mother but she died when he was to young to remember what she looked like outside of photographs. She was a mortal woman, and mortal's do not often fare well after giving birth to a god child, their body's are not strong enough to handle the residual energy left behind. It came like a form of cancer and within a month after Kid was born she passed away. And now his father. He hoped, even if kid wasn't entirely religious, that his mother and father would be together soon, given there is a life after death anyway, after all, being a Death God doesn't mean he or his father actually have any knowledge of what happens after a person dies, not many people have that information and those who do will not likely tell you in any way that you can comprehend, others claim to know the truth but only tell lies.

Crona opened the maintenance door that lead to the roof, she looked around and saw him sitting on the air conditioning unit, gray oxidized paint from the unit was rubbing off on the bottom of his pants, something that normally he would have avoided like the plague but the look on his face was unlike any she had seen from the young man, an actual profound sadness she recognized but previously not seen of him, it was different than the way he would pout or cry about symmetry, when he would throw tantrums over bricks on the crosswalk not being perfectly in line or when he wasn't able to fix his hair the way he liked it in the morning. She came over to him and silently sat by his side and she looked at him with a wide expression waiting fro him to speak.

"dad- my... my father is dieing." he sighed. Crona's bottom lip fell open. "oh..kid. That's awful.." kid closed his eye's "i should have seen it coming..i should have been ready for this." Crona usually had a rule about touching, she didn't like making contact with people unless they were special to her, but she put her hand on his shoulder, he was one of those special people after all. She wasn't really good at this sort of thing and didn't know what to say, consoling someone over the death of a loved one was an experience she hadn't had yet. "how is a person supposed to be ready for..for that? How could you just be okay with it?" kid shook his head. "i don't know..i wish I could have had more time to think on this..to cushion the blow just a little bit..he gave me the news this morning, he's excepted whats happening, he's had a couple million years to think about it...iv only had seven hours.. and now..and now, he only has a week, maybe less and no more than that." "was he going to tell anyone?" she asked, kid nodded. "tomorrow. He will address the people of death city from the grand staircase of the DWMA, it will be televised and it'll be on the radio. Everyone in death city will know and then the whole world...and he will announce me as the new lord death..." he looked over at Crona "and I'm not sure what scares me more, life without my father, or the fact that I will be living life in his place as the prime reaper. It terrifys me.." "if theirs anything you need me to do..." she was unsure how to end the sentence, unsure what even she could do for him. "that's all right, its all up to me at this point. we cant stop whats happening and he seems okay with that." he paused, then looked over at her. "you know, as strange as it is to say..i think its what he wants, To die." Crona let that sink in for a while. "ill be there tomorrow during his speech, even if he doesn't want me there, ill come to support you." he considered her for a moment and then nodded. "thank you, your a good friend, you know that." he stood up and so did she. "i should go home." he said "its going to be a long day for me tomorrow."

They walked together through the halls of the DWMA and came to the grand staircase where the next day lord death was set for his speech. They stood there for a moment quietly taking in the view of the vast empty space they knew would be flooded with people come that afternoon. The spot where ten year ago Crona said goodbye to Maka and was taken away. Crona couldn't help but notice that coincidence, but lord death would not return after his farewell, and maybe she felt sad for him, she wasn't sure, she was sure that kid was sad, and that certainly did upset her, without a doubt.


	3. Chapter 3

(the Kings speech)

Lord death making an address was not something that happened every week, not even every month, he was an open book sure, and anyone could come and see him any time, but he didn't make pubic appearances too often. The kind of anticipation received from the people of death city was impel, for them, it was like the president was speaking, he spoke and you listened, simple as that, he liked things being straight forward.

Crona did not have much to do that day, she had taken the time to deliver a few letters and parcels for the local chapter of the postal service, which paid a meager amount but enough to be worth her time. After delivering about ten packages on foot she found that it was almost time for the speech. She headed from the post office to the DWMA where as she expected a humungous crowd had gathered. She began to worry for a moment, she told kid that she would be there for him but this crowd had already beat her there and they were blocking all paths to where she expected him to be standing, none of the people in the crowd would budge for her, they would only shrug her off or group together more tightly as she tried to slip through. She thought for a moment. It felt like a mean thing to do but an idea popped into her head. she had to be there, and her time was running out.

She opened her eyes, so impossibly wide, blackness flooding her soft white orbs, her toothy smile and large immaculately white teeth cliched together forming a sicking and frightful grin, her brow twitching. She came to a man on the outside of the crowd and tapped him on the shoulder.

"what do you wan-" his mouth shrunk around his words as he looked frightfully into her face, he moved aside and Crona moved past him penetrating the crowd, she repeated this scare tactic on the next person in front of her and so on and so forth, as they all stepped aside with small shrieks or gasps. She was almost at the front of the crowd when she heard the voice of the grim reaper. She pushed herself through the rest of the way and stepped out to the front where a velvet rope prevented any further progress. "meisters, mortals, citizens of Death city and people around the world, hear me.."

She relaxed her face and saw lord death, kid was standing not to far away with Liz and Patty, there were no signs of any of her other friends but the crowd was so large it was hard to make out faces.

"since the dawn of human kind I have been the shepherd of souls and the lord of meisters. I started the DWMA over three hundred years ago with a small group of students, and in that time I have watched this patch of land, grow from a small dojo made of wood and stone in the middle of the desert into a town, then a kingdom, and now metropolitan city with every modern luxury desired, people from all over the world of every race, creed and religion. We have in this time, amassed an army, we have fought wars and we have made peace, peace with love and understanding, or over the corpses of the wicked. We have made progress in this world, despite the world being ready for it or not.

But it is regretful to inform my people, that in this week, I will no longer be able to make this progress with you..."

a hush fell over the crowed, people all over the world huddled around their radios or sitting on their couches watching TV, even they were silenced.

"i will be no more, and this will be my last address to Death City and to the world. I am at ease knowing the world I am leaving behind, for the world itself may not be completely at peace, but I leave it in capable hands that will see the job done. I leave my city and my throne to my son, Lord Death the second, as he is known to his comrades, Death the Kid. He will command the same allegiance that I have been blessed with during my reign, he has already earned the respect of this city and he will continue to do so. When I pass I shall leave behind a part of myself, I leave behind my soul, bound to the city to protect it for as long as this city shall stand as one..." as he finished speaking his voice became hard and gravely, his true booming voice. "meisters, in Lord Death's name let no Kishin survive, and feel no fear, for we are fear incarnate."

there was cheering and clapping, people wept and some sobbed. Crona stood silently, she clapped, looking on, still unsure what to feel. And then he looked at her for a moment, she could feel that he was looking specificity at her and no one else. He looked down and then away to meet his son, who was also looking at her but not quite in the same way his father had been. The crowd did not leave immediately, they seemed to be expecting more but lord death had left them after waving a farewell to the masses. After about ten minutes the people of death city that had assembled dispersed that she could move around and that's when she saw Maka, like many people she was..weeping, Maka was a strong woman, she was probably the most brave person Crona knew, for her to be crying this must have been very upsetting indeed, her tears, they were slightly gray..

Crona started her way, silently she approached and grasped Maka softly by her shoulders, Maka gasped with surprise and looked up at her. "oh- Crona I-" she wiped at her face with her sleeve. "sorry, I just couldn't handle that, my emotions just got the better of me." "why are you apologizing?" Crona hugged her "because I know you..i know you don't like him." she leaned into her shoulder " It's not that I don't like him, I just don't know how to feel about him." "i know what he did to you was wrong but he is a good man, like a father to me, he's always been in my life, and I just don't know how I'm going to deal with loosing him." she could feel the heat of Maka's face through her robes. She wasn't quite sure what to do or say to make Maka feel better and that made her feel worse. "do you want to go for a walk?" she asked, Maka shook her head "no..i want to but I have to go back to work but..i know I wont be able to do anything.." Crona looked up to see kid standing at the top of the grand staircase, he was watching them, she couldn't clearly see the expression on his face. He waved and walked away. "i think you should take the rest of the day off, Kid will understand." Maka silently rubbed her face into corona's shoulder. "okay..ill call in.."

(walk in the park)

they walked through town, for a while it wasn't in any specific direction but at some point they began to gravitate toward the park, on the their they passed by Crona's apartment building and the Death Buck's cafe. The old Coffee house could be seen from Crona's window and some times at night she thought about what it would be like if she one day bought the place and reopened it. But she would always shoot herself down, tell herself that she didn't know anything about running a business. Still, it was a sort of dream that made her happy. She looked in the windows as they passed, there was still a pizza box on the table from a few months ago when the were planning to rescue Maka from the blood cult. She considered telling Maka about the place but she decided not to.

After a couple of hours of wandering around the park Maka seemed to lighten up. It always made her feel better to get fresh air, to switch gears from thinking to moving, especially since her job required so much thinking all of the time. To actually get out and see the park, the sand squirrels and road runner birds and the agents from the vague yet menacing government agency that went about their business invading the privacy of park goers in broad day light. Given that death city was in the middle of the desert there wasn't any grass and only a small sink hole with nearly two feet of water at any given time. There was a sand pit where the children played, and a rock garden with an interesting assortment of sand stone, many people chose to stack boulders in different formations, this was considered an extreme sport and was harshly regulated by the Death City Guard, people found stacking rocks without the proper safety gear, like helmets, groin guard and a ballistic vest, were sentenced to three weeks of hard labor. But that wasn't the sort of fun that they were their to have, after walking around they decided to take a seat at one of the benches, sitting wasn't too harshly regulated, but your credit card would be automaticly charged for sitting longer than twenty minutes. They made sure to only sit down for nineteen.

"thanks for being here for me." Maka said with a sincere look into Crona's eye. Crona nodded, she said nothing but returned the eye contact, it was clear to Maka what Crona was saying with her silence. Maka found Crona's silence a key characteristic about her, she had such a gentle way with silence, each breath filled with patience, it was not that she had nothing to say, sometimes she didn't. She was silent because in her early years she could only manage to stumble through easy sentences, her mind tough fast than her lips could speak. She was silent as a young woman for fear of what others would say about the things that she would say. She was silent no as an adult, because of the little bits of wisdom she ha gathered, from talking less and listening more, she waited for Maka to finish speaking, to say all that she was going to say and then thought about it, so that maybe she would say the right thing, she didn't always say the right thing, but she hoped that her silence would help.

"i just never imagined this happening, lord death is as old as the world and suddenly he's going to die. It always seemed like he's had a plan, an answer for everything. Even when...even when he worked against us..when he had you sent away, I had this feeling like he was really trying to help...and he did let you back into the city.." she said with a sideways glance at her. For this Crona really didn't have a reply, none that would have been polite anyway. She would have hated to ruin the moment with a snarky comment about her second class citizenship. Maka let out a breath. "I'm going to be fine..that first shock was a little more than I could handle. I worry about kid though.." "i talked to him." Crona said. "last night, he isn't okay. He's definitely going to survive.." she looked down at the ground "he's never going to be the same. But no one is ever the same at any given moment. I guise in that sense he will be completely normal, in that he will always be changing, like all of us. We wont be the same either, neither will death city, lord death passing is just another change, its up to us to make it a change we can all live with and..I think..that's the best way that we can honer him...am I making any sense?" Maka looked at her and nodded. "yes, that make's perfect sense.." Crona nodded and then shifted her eyes up to the microphone that was dangling over their heads, and turned to the black suit waring agent behind them with microphone equipment and headphones on, he smiled and waved as Crona turned back around "do you want to go home? Its getting a little crowded.." "just pretend im not here! I'm jut gathering some data!" the agent shouted over the magnified noise of his headphones. "yeah, lets go." she took crona's hand and the stood and walked away. The agent shrugged hi shoulders and was no sooner off recording a sun bathing lizard on a rock. "just pretend I'm not here.." he repeated to the lizard, the lizard did not reply.


	4. Chapter 4

(from patty's journal)

I met another god a couple of days ago, I met him on my way home from the DWMA. At first he was scary, he still sort of is. He looked jut like Crona but he was a shadow, long dark and very...very handsome. He said that his name was cupid and that he took the shape of my hearts desire, he said that he was here to help me and I got really excited! He went on to say that If I helped him with some things on his list of errands he had to complete that I could have Crona's heart, so of course I heard him out. some of the things he asked me to do sounded wrong..mean, he wanted me to do really nasty things to some of my friends...I'm in love with Crona, he's the cutest, sweetest guy I've ever met but...i couldn't hurt someone for him...right? He told me that doctor Stien's son had an allergy to Bee's and where I could find concentrated Bee venom, he said that If I could stick Robby with a syringe full of the stuff without anyone noticing that he would cast part of a love spell on Crona...it didn't sound worth any of that but...now ill never know, he asked me to do some other things I could do and any of them would help, like push Maka down the Grand Staircase, yeah I can see myself doing that sometimes, but..that could kill her...i told him I would have to think about it. He told me that if I didn't help I couldn't have Crona...he said that he would make sure that I'm alone forever...i don't want to be alone, I wish he would come back, give me another chance, maybe theres something else I can do for him.

(obsession)

Patty watched the bright strobe of light pass under the hatch of her home printer, a green light blinked on the display panel and she watched with anticipation as the image was printed onto a piece of crisp white paper.

She hadn't allowed anyone in her room in three days, not even her sister, she would come home and lock herself in to her solitude. She didn't need either of them anyway, they didn't understand what she was going through, that's what she thought, they didn't want her to have what she desired so it was best if they just didn't speak.

The printer finished and the paper was spat out of the mouth of the machine and fell to the ground like a leaf carried by the wind, she looked at the image and grinned, it was a picture taken of Crona at a recent social event she had attended. She picked it up and brought it to a wall across from her bed there were other printed pictures here too, they took up the entire wall and they were all pictures of Crona. She found an empty spot and pinned it into place with a thumb tack, she took a step back to adore her collage, it was complete at last. She walked over to her bed and plopped down smiling with satisfaction.

She gaped suddenly as a black mass took shape at the end o her bed. A tall and slender shadow figure that flickered like an open flame, it's eyes were piercing white flames that smoked like a sparkler at the end of its burn, whatever it was it was mimicking Crona's shape perfectly. "your here!" patty sat forward, with a smile. "after last time I thought you would never come back, I'm sorry I made you mad.." the shadow creature did not speak, it stared at her, but it didn't appear to be waiting, no its eyes cast a scolding glare on patty. "look...i decorated the wall, do you like it?" "I'm not angry." it said in a stilted manor, apparently struggling with the words. Patty took a breath of relief. "good, I thought you wouldn't forgive me." "i have not." it said flitting across the room for a moment and then back to the spot where it had been standing. "I'm sorry, Cupid is there a way I can make it better?" there was a silence. "let me inside of you." it said bluntly. Patty reeled back with repulse. "oh hell no-" the specter lunged at patty with a force that blew all of the papers off of the wall behind it. Patty screamed. She felt an impact that was solid across her entire body she screamed again feeling as if she were being smothered by hot coals, her muscles spassmming all over her body. There was a loud gust of wind and then nothing..

Only the noise of the whirling ceiling fan above and papers falling all around. The sound of her door being kicked down by her sister was like a cannon. Liz looked all around to see only patty sitting on her bed, she looked terrifyde. Liz ran to her. "what is it? What just happened?" She looked at the papers scattered all over. "patty are you okay?" she picked up one of the printed pictures of Crona."what..." she picked up another in her other hand and looked at it and others that were scattered on the bed. "what is all this?" Patty didn't answer, her chest heaved, she looked down at her own body and around the room. Liz put the pictures down and disregarded them. "are you okay?" patty seemed unsure. "don't say anything." she heard the spirits voice. "you'll ruin everything, tell her your fine." patty nodded her head, afraid of what would happen otherwise. "I'm okay..." "are you sure? What happened?" "i thought I saw something, but I was wrong." "what do you mean something? What do you think you saw?" patty looked around hastily "a- a ghost, I thought I saw a ghost." "has kid been showing you his stupid ghost videos?" patty reluctantly nodded "yes..i got scared." Liz shook her head. "I'm going to have to talk with him about this sooner or later." patty could almost feel him moving around in her body but that wasn't possible he was an incorporeal spirit, his visage was merely an anomaly of light or lack there of, he had no mass but she could feel a shifting in her body. "just stay cool." it said calmly. "I'm cool.." she said lowly. Liz gave her a sideways glance "okay...just, maybe get this mess cleaned up, then come down stares and hang out, being by yourself like this for so long is probably freaking you out worse." patty nodded without hesitation. "sure..ill be down in a minute.."


	5. Chapter 5

(the Gallows Hall)

Patty had been hearing the whispers of the spirit in her head sense the day before, it concerned her more and more as time went on and she was starting to get the feeling that the spirit that had invaded her body was not Cupid at all, but maybe something evil with the worst of intentions. She fidgeted, walking behind Kid and beside Liz. Today was the day, these were lord Deaths final final moments. From the long gallows hall they could see him ahead, along with a room full of others, Including Spirit, Doctor Stien and other elite DWMA staff. Lord death sat on a throne which was usually in storage in the Sacred Chamber beneath the DWMA. He sat immobile now, unable to stand since early that early that morning, but his face did not show want, the meister before him could only hope to match his bravery in these unprecedented state of events. The others cleared a path for him and kid stepped forward, Spirit was already at lord death right hand side, he had been there to get lord death anything he needed but he didn't ask for anything, only his son. The reaper turned his head to Kid. "i don't have much time. I have to want you, all of you...i think something is coming. I feel a darkness drawing near, I'm afraid danger will be emanate after my passing...something may be among us, even now in this room. Be strong, be brave, be truly brave, but be weary, especially be weary of the blood god-" he paused as his form began to smolder lowly like a paper over a flame. "this is it I"m afraid, remember what I told you kid, the next step, you know what you must do after this." at the end of the hall one of lord death agents, burst through the door. He ran the full sixty feet of the hallway shouting something unintelligible he stopped to catch his breath when he arrived, then looked up at lord death with aww. "focus, what is it? Quickly." lord death gestured him to continue "something was spotted falling from the sky landing within the city, and the academy is in danger of being breached.." "its happening.." lord deaths voice began to fade. He looked at Kid as the others in the room started for the door. "son, go, defend the academy. Stien and Spirit shall safe guard my essences until you return." he let out a breath that was like a gust of wend, it felt hot and dry. Spark popped from his once black endless eyes now aglow with amber flames. "i love you." Kid said lowly, planting his hand on his fathers. Lord death said something but it was to distorted to be understood.

Lord deaths mask fell with an echoing clatter onto the throne. And above it a hovered something that resembled a soul, but it was something else. Like a ball of smoldering ashes that let out a smoke that was fragrant like incense, like burning nightshade and driftwood, maybe a wiff of burnt toast. "we don't have time for the process of assimilation." stein said in an even and emotionally removed tone. "it's going to require a great deal of strength to absorb his power and make it you own, I have no idea what it will be like...but I would think it best that we take care of the problem at hand, if you are so inclined sir." kid nodded but didn't say anything, he seemed to take a moment to gather himself.

Patty tapped her sister on the shoulder. "Liz, I have to tell you something.." "can it wait patty? Its kind of a bad time." patty hesitated. "uhm.." kid turned to them. "okay, lets go.." he said brushing past them, hiding his face. "we'll talk about it later patty, I promise." Liz said starting after kid. Patty fallowed behind but just as she took a step the spirit (not Death Scythe) spoke to her. "don't worry, I wont need you much longer." it laughed, a kind of laugh that made patty shiver, and she knew for sure that this spirit was about to pull something awful.

(twenty minutes ago)

Two agents from a vague yet menacing agency, the man who was not tall and the agent who was not short, sat in their black sedan across from one of the towns many student apartment complexes, the apartment that just happened to be Crona's, this was not a coincidence. For the sake of easy reading we will call these two emotionally gray characters, Frank Thompson and Chang Wong, these were not their real name's. Its not known for sure but it was speculated that these agents had all traces of their identity ether redacted from public record or completely altered. Almost no one knew them or remembered their faces, those who did often did not live long enough to make any use of the information. They had been sitting since nine A.M. they had watched Crona leave her apartment early carrying the bag she used for delivering mail. Over the course of their three weeks of surveillance they had calculated that she was working at least ten different temporary jobs all over the city. Now they sat waiting for her return and spying on her neighbors and sometimes hacking their wifi to change the gateway password to things like "all is loss" and "we are all of us, dust in the wind" just for laughs. It was mid day not and Chang had finished half of the crossword book he had been working on, one that would go in the pile of other crossword books he had completed over months of surveillance. "hay whats a four letter word for waste that is regarded as unpleasant?" Frank did not answer. "frank?" he looked over to see frank holding their parabolic listing device out the window, with the large headphones resting over his ears. His gaze was pointed upward at the sky. Chang looked in the same direction. "shit.." there was a streaking ball of fire falling through the sky. Frank almost looked surprised, he like all the other agents were not permitted to show emotions and he wasn't sure how to form the expressions any more, but the way his lips parted just slightly and his eyes widening behind his dark sunglasses it was clear what he felt. He dropped the listening device in hi hands, and instinctively started the car. The object in the sky landed some distance away with an eminence rumble as the car started. "what going on?" Chang asked, just before he was flung into his passenger side door by Frank's erratic driving, wiping out of the parking lot with a sqeal of his tires. "this is it, this is what were here for." he said as her ran through a red light at sixty miles an hour. People on the side walks ran in panic from an unseen terror. The agents were fat approaching a four way intersection when fir trucks and police cars and ambulances stormed through the intersection, presumably toward the object that ha fallen to earth. Frank cut the wheel sharply to fallow them but almost crashed into a police car in the process. "i think you dented his car." Chang said, looking out the window, absent of the situation at hand, frank didn't acknowledge him. He gripped the wheel tightly and hit the brakes. Chang bounced of the dashboard as he had not yet put one his seat belt. Frank stepped out of his car pulling his sidearm from its holster while Chang stumbled out of the passenger side in a daze. The sight of impact was one of the newer building s of the town, possibly a bank of some sort.

There was a terrible roar that drew the attention of all. And fallowing the silence a beast erupted through the wall, horrible and massive, the entire front of the building crumbled under its massive size, it was a grotesque titan, made of thick plant matter like vines rightly woven into a body with two arms a triangular head and a slithering mass below the trunk of its body, its arms were still ablaze with fire from its entry into the atmosphere and with one it grabbed a car, tossing it like a toy into the crowed of startled emergency personnel. "get down!" frank howled at Chang. As the car made impact and hit with such force crushing a firefighter instantly and bouncing off the tarmac landing on Frank and Chang's black sedan. "no! My crosswords!" Chang bayed with dismay. "forget about them!" frank pointed his pistol, the front sight level with one of the horrors three glowing green eyes. "smile you son of a bitch." he said before emptying an entire magazine, which had absolutely no effect. Frank considered the complete impotence his pistol for a second and quickly returned it to its holster a the beast began to move toward the DWMA, destroying everything in its path as it traveled down the wide cobblestone streets designated for pedestrian use. "hay!" Chang called to his partner, frank looked over to him to see the man standing triumphantly next to the back passenger side door of their sedan holding one of his crossword books. "their fine, totally fine." Frank turned to a police car that had been parked next to them and left running. "come on." he waved his partner over. Chang placed the booklet in the back seet of the car along with his trusty pensel. He reached through the broken window and pressed down the door lock dispite how pointless that was. "coming." he said over the blare of siren. Frank sat in the drivers seat of the police car and reloaded his pistol. Chang sat in the passenger side. "you think they will be mad if we barrow their car" "irrelevant." Frank answered. He put the car in drive and shut the door just as the owner of the police car arrived, trying in vain to open the door and stop them. Frank sped down the pedestrian walk way driving past civilians at an unsafe speed. He struck one man who ran in front of them, the bi standard rolled over the top of the car knocking off the LED roof lights and landing on stone foot path with a thud. "you think we should-" Chang started "he's probably fine, don't think about it."

(meanwhile)

inside the reception office Soul stepped up to a desk where a small old woman sat doing some paper work. "hello dear." she greeted him. "yeah, Hi." he said casually, setting a clipboard on the desk "i just got finished with this job application., the lady over their gave it to me." he pointed over his shoulder at a woman across the room at another desk. "told me to turn it over to you when I'm done." "okay sweety, lets see if everything in order. She said adjusting her absurdly large glasses. "oh yes...mm-hm...that all seems right..." she inspected the paper for a long moment. "okay then." she sat it to the side and continued her task. "so..." she didn't acknowledge him. "hello?" "yes?" She said looking back up at him "so are you guys going to call me when its time for an interview or?" She seemed to mull for a moment. "oh, yes, we'll call you with the number you filed on the paper. "oh, sweet." she promptly contenude her work. "uh..see yu'.." he turned away and walked out of the office.

he walked through the door, and only after three steps Maka rounded the corner only six feet down the hall. They stood face to face, silently staring at one another. "oh, hay." he said. She nodded at him "hi." she said, she said it without anger but not like she was exactly happy to see him ether, just like someone you would see on the street. "hows it going?" he asked, looking away to the side. "good, "I'm on break." she said. "oh." she sighed, she knew it had been a long time since they broke up an that their wasn't much point in being mad at him for an eternity. "whcha doin?" she asked, politely but hesitant to give him any of her time.

"i just put in a job application. I don't know when they'll call to let me know, that lady wasn't a to big of a help.." Maka nodded, she was surprised at him, he had sent her a text two weeks back, a long rambling message about better times and how he knew things were between her and Crona, that he just wanted another chance, and that he was "trying now". She didn't answer him then, she didn't believe him, even now she didn't believe him, but at least he was their, a last he had put in the effort to look for a job and that's more than she had gotten out of the last two years of their discontenude relationship.

"well..I'm glad that you're putting the effort in." she said with a shrug, it was slightly dismissive, but enough to make soul smile. "so hows the black blood thing? Kid told me you were out for a few weeks after the incident." he said walking up a bit closer to her. "I'm fine now, I still have it, its still in me but I wont be feeling any adverse effects, doctor Stien is supplying me some medication." she reached into her pocket and pulled out a metal capsule on her key chain. And rattled it's contents. "every day at lunch and befor I go to sleep." she said like it was no big deal. Soul nodded and hesitated to ask her a question, but he was curios. "so- Is it true that, when you get it fully takes you over you'll always have it?" Maka gave him a sideways glance. "oh, yeah.. when you got it years ago...when Crona cut you with ragnorock." she pointed at his chest. "they were able to medicate you fast Enough so that you were only sick for a little while." she stuffed her hands in her pocket. "i didn't get so lucky. I was i fully infected I an instant when Ragnarok entered my body and even when Medusa took him out, my condition was irreversible." soul cringed "That sucks." Maka shrugged "Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you. At least now I cant make anyone sick and I wont feel side effects like Crona. I'm still very lucky, I wont go off the deep end when I'm in combat and I can still wield a soul eater without destroying it with madness." "so you think you might need a soul eater any time soon?" Maka gave him a leery look. "at some point." "come on, were gonna' have to work together again at some-"

soul was interrupted by the klaxon alarm that signaled an impending attack. "Now hear this, hostile entity has been reported within the city and is emanate to arrive on our position. Threat level omega. All students and staff to fortify and hold position. This is not a drill." Sid and Nygus ran buy them in the hall, not stopping to explain the situation. Maka looked over at soul and grabbed him by the collar."what the hell?" he spat with confusion as she pulled him down the hall in a dead run. "you want a job? Well here's you chance at a positive reference."


	6. Chapter 6

Crona walked the rout specified on the postal service GPS toward the address it was the third parcel of the day that she had brought out for delivery. It was just another day really, she worked diligently but at her own pace. for he Death City Postal service payment was based on how many packages were delivered that day, the road system was difficult in death city, one of its only major flaws, most people walked and this was the preferred method for courier's like Crona as well, that or bicycle travel but she didn't have a license to operate one of those and acquiring a bicycle license in the state of California was harder than getting a weapons permit which was fuck all impossible in itself.

It was still early in the day and this being the third package she could still make a decent sum at the end of the day if she didn't stop for lunch or take any long breaks. She saw the place ahead with the letter box clearly marked, she opened the lid, pulled the package from her bag and gently set it inside. She turned without missing a beat and started across the street to an alleyway.

There was a muffled boom when she entered the ally, the ground shook under her feet and she stumbled to the side, catching herself against a brick wall. Car alarms were going off not to far away and she heard yelling. There had been construction in the aria but surely they were not using dynamite in the city. She kept walking but cautiously peeking around the corners at the end of the ally, people were running by, a man turned down the allyway and franticly rushed past her. She slowly approached and as she reached the end something massive tore through the walk way. She only caught a glimpse of its massive form, she stumbled back with shock.

Close behind the beast was a police car with a shattered window, it fallowed but was stopped when it hit a fountain, cracking the structure and flooding the foot path with water. A man in a suit stepped out looking first at the beast that was now several blocks away and then around. Another one stepped out and looked right at her.

"hay that's-" Chang said pointing at her. His partner wasn't looking at her but said "yes, very good, lets hope she's smart enough to stay out of its way." "uh- frank" Chang said pointing "what, what is-" frank watched as Crona ran by in the direction of the beast. "shit." frank lept over the stone wall of the fountain and gave chase to the pink haired god child.

Crona didn't exactly want to pursue the terrible monstrosity up ahead but she could see that it was headed right for the DWMA, destroying everything in its path. She needed to get their and help defend the academy, even if she were unarmed. It was only when she stopped to catch her breath that she noticed the two suits coming toward her fast. She could see their gaze was fixed right in her. She started running again but the gent who was not tall was fast, and though he carried a little extra girth he moved like he was made of Styrofoam and before she knew it he was right on her heels. He jumped forward like a rugby player taking down an adversary, he tackled her to the ground. "i got him! I got him!" Crona shifted under him and punched him in the lower jaw. She rung his bell But he didn't budge, he looked down at her exasperated expression unsure of what he was to do next, he dident really want to hurt her. "be careful she's dangerous!" frank arrived and quickly snatched her hand, seamlessly clicking a set of handcuffs around her writs then snapping the other end to a metal bar of a patio fence if front of a cafe.

Crona pulled at the hand cuffs and looked up at frank "what is this?! Who are you and why did you do that?" "its for your own protection, you'll thank us later. Now you stay there." frank commanded. Crona disregarded his orders and continued to pull at the cuffs, he knew she would get free eventually. He raised his leg and kicked Crona in the face with the bottom of his shoe, the back of her head slamming into the bars. She gripped her face with her free hand and barked with pain. The agents turned and ran, this time commandeering an ice cream truck parked near a small green space. Crona's head began to spin and above her she could see that planet, the invisible titan, with thick black forest, deep turbulent oceans and tall jagged mountains...

(meanwhile at the academy)

Maka and soul made it outside, fallowed by kid, patty and Liz, some of the others had made it outside. They could see it now fast approaching. "what is that thing?" soul shuttered with terror of the approaching beast. "its not from around here." Sid answered from a few feet away. Maka turned to soul with a stone face expression. "look I know we haven't done this in a while, but lets give this a shot, you and me." soul nodded. "yeah- yeah alright lets do it." it was strange how excited he felt, the fact that Maka wanted to use him as her weapon again. maybe he thought that he had something of a chance with her again?

Soul transformed and it was the first time he had done so in a couple of years and reached his full death scythe form, being in the hands of his original meister gave him a boost in his soul Strength that he would not otherwise have had. Maka too felt it invigorating to have such a familiar weapon in her grasp.

Before Maka and soul had finished their reintroduction the beast was nearly upon them. Patty and Liz quickly transformed as well, and at that very moment patty felt something go horribly wrong. For her everything went black, She screamed in pain. Kid felt a jolt of what felt like high voltage electricity up his arm. His hand tightening around patty unable to let go of her in her pistol for as she became pitch black in his his grasp. There was a low but audible tone, a ball of light radiation around the pistol clinched in his fist. "get back, everyone get back!" he dived from his comrades, landing several feet away as the daemon weapon in his hand exploded with a bright violet flash and black mushroom cloud as dark as obsidian.

Sid immediately ran to his aid. Kid was face down, his jacket sill smoldering, their was but limited signs of physical damage but he was not moving. Liz was the only one coherent. She sat upright in a daze. Patty, poor patty, lay face up, her eyes rolled back in her head, she didn't appear to be breathing. Nygus transformed in order to help Sid care for them. He scooped patty up his arms and ran with her as fast as hee could to a place away from the danger. Nygus was able to get Liz to her feet, and drag kid away as well.

The beast tore open the gates, it was Maka and soul alone to stand against it, or so they thoght until a distinctive crack of a high caliber rifle told them otherwise, the creeping horror stumbled slightly in its advance, taking a blast of energized matter that slugged it between its glowing green eyes. Soul could see in his three hundred sixty degree vision that behind them, Joe Buttataki lay prone on the roof of the DWMA, Azusa in her weapon form clinched against his shoulder, the sun glinting off of her scope.

Joe racked the bolt back charging another round, Azusa had already compensated for the distance and wind speed, adjusting herself in Joe's grip ever so slightly. His finger was on the trigger and ready to fire when Maka disrupted his line of sight. She charged the towering creature with her scythe held high.

She yelled at the top of her lungs, clutching soul tightly in her hands and swinging the long sweeping blade at the invader. The tendrils of the beast were quite thick, the plant mater that made up the creatures body was tough enough on its own but armor plates formed of something like tree bark made it all the worse as a smooth blade like her Soul Eater was not ideal for the task. But maka had a clear head and sought to attack any vulnerable openings instead of wasting her effort breaking through its armor.

Azusa and Joe had already discovered such gaps but had no way of relaying their information to Maka. They waited between Maka's bouts with the beast for their own far more acute strikes. A bolt of burning hot energy infused matter struck in the third top most eye of the beast's head. It roared in intense displeasure and used the twisted metal of the DWMA gates to batter Maka furiously, and while she recovered somewhat tactfully it weakened her equilibrium to the slightest.

She lept forward, thirsty for revenge. Maka sliced through a few of the tendrils leaving them as stumps, but to her dismay the tendrils quickly started to grow back. "you have got to be shitting me!" soul spat with frustration. Maka retreated to cover and took a breather. While joe took a few shots that left the created dazed for a moment. Maka's wrist had become jarred in her beating, she leaned against her scythe and gave her wrist a stiff tug, she bit back a shout as her bone realigned, she rapidly flexed her fingers trying to regain the feeling in them.

Maka was so much more independent than he remembered, she hadn't yet spoken a word to him during the fight, he wondered if it was just intense focus or if she really had nothing to say to him. "hay, how are you holding up?" he asked "I'm okay." she said taking him in hand again with a determined glare on her face. "hay, don't over do it, you can hang back and let someone else have a piece of the action." he said. "you know I don't step down from a fare fight-." she looked up suddenly and rolled to the ground as a tentacle whirled through the air and slammed into the wall behind her. "a fare fight?! That thing is the size of a building!"

Joe looked up from his scope to wipe the sweat from his brow when he noticed something fast approaching from . It was a large white truck, he peeked back through the scope and glassed the fast moving diesel, it was an icecream truck to be precise. "what the hell.."Joe looked with astonishment, the truck was picking up speed. And just as it hit top gear two men jumped from the back, the truck slammed through a stone half wall and through what was left of the DWMA's gates, and ramming right into the beast. The titan groaned seeming frozen with pain and confusion it fell forward. It's head landing awkwardly onto the starecase.

"this is it! Lets finish him!" Maka ran forward slinging her scythe over her shoulder. " lets go! soul resonence, Genie Hunter!" "oh man I hope I remember how to do this!" Soul's blade began to glow and with each step it grew brighter. The beast slowly lifted its head as it saw the blazing scythe draw near. Maka sprang into the bringing the scythe back and then slinging it forward with all of her strength. The pulpy plant matter was eviscerated and then evaporated by the burning hot blade, a sonic boom breaking all other noise around them, booming and final.

The cranium of the wretched thing was split in a wide V shape, it steamed like a baked potato, but instead of sour cream, green viscus fluids and what they hoped was only brain matter leaked out onto the staircase.

Under Maka's feet flowers and grass began to grow at an astonishing rate and within moments the enite staircase and grand entrance was awash in green and marvelous fragrant flowers, the beast incarnating into wonderful plant life the likes of which were not of this world, the icecream truck that was lodged int the creatures back side was now covered in moss and mushrooms.

Soul transformed and joined Maka in taking in the sight. They were surprised to see the two men that had been driving the truck standing beside them, they hadn't seem them come over but they stood their silently, they weren't allowed to show their emotions but even they were empressed by what was to be seen. "are you the guys that drove that icecream truck up that things ass?" Frank, the agent that was not short, nodded. "he ruined my car." he answered as gruffly as his gray personality would allow. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver Key. And held it up to Maka. "take this to the Golden Eagle cafe. There is someone waiting for you. They will be glad to see you." he said blandly and set the key in the palm of maka's hand, both of the agents started to walk away through the green meadow that was now the DWMA gateway. "hay who are you guys?" soul called out to them "we are figments of your imagination, a weather balloon, swamp gas, take your pick." frank said without turning back. Maka looked at the key in her hand and then at soul and he looked at her.

(back at the cafe)

"would you like some more tea?" an old lady with absurdly large prescription lenses asked, offering yet another mug of hot tea to Crona who was still handcuffed at the wrist to the railing of the patio. "id love some ma-am but its a hundred and ten degrees out today...hay do you maybe have some tools? You know, Maybe a hacksaw?" the old woman seemed to think for a long moment.. "would you like some more tea?" she asked inching the mug closer to Crona's face, she sighed. "yeah..okay.." she took the mug in hand and took a sip.

"were off killing giant monsters and shes sitting here having a tea party." she suddenly heard souls voice. She looked over to see Maka running toward her and soul standing generaly unconcerned a few feet away. "what happened to you? Are you okay?" Maka said indicating the large black shoe print on her face. "I'm okay, Maka I'm perfectly fine." she looked at Maka's ripped cloths. "looks like..things were taken care of.." Maka nodded. "sorry were late, we could have been hear sooner but..kid and patty are hurt...their hurt really bad Crona..." Crona's shoulders dropped, her face frozen in shock. Maka unlocked her handcuffs and after a moment of consideration she stuck them in her pocket for safe keeping. "I was fallowing that monster when these two men that looked like government agents jumped me and handcuffed me to this fence. The tall one kicked me in the face and I blacked out. When I woke up that nice woman over there was trying to serve me tea and pastrys..." Maka looked up at the old woman across the cafe patio, the lady waved and returned to her business. "well lets get back to the academy" soul said pointing down the path to the DWMA. Maka helped Crona up and dusted her off. She clutched Crona's hand like couples do. "Come on lets go.." they turned to face soul who looked at them and then turned away. Maka rolled her eyes. "that made him mad didn't it." Crona murmurered. "he'll get over it."


End file.
